In the early 90s, visual artist and composer Christian Marclay took LP record covers and stitched them together to create hybrid images in an ingenious series called “Body Mix.” These visual compositions mirrored the process of mixing together the music on the records to create the kind of sound collages that Marclay is known for.
Christian Marclay, from his “Body Mix” series.
Despite the decline of LP record production, band T-shirts are as prevalent as ever, often featuring the same imagery as record covers, and considering Marclay’s decision to sew his original compositions together, it seemed appropriate to make a T-shirt mashup project based on his work.
Peter Frampton/Melissa Etheridge/Taylor Swift T-Shirt Mashup
This tutorial will show you how to make a “Body Mix” composition that you can wear on your own body. In the video below I’ve demonstrated an easy way to make a T-shirt mashup out of just two shirts (I found these Jonas Brothers tour shirts in a thrift shop, so apparently someone loved the Jonas Brothers so much that they went to see them and buy the shirt for two separate tours and then later decided to get rid of the shirts).
I tried to make mashups from shirts with images that would fit together in interesting and amusing ways, but practically any two or more shirts can work. This could be a great way to make something new and fun from something ordinary, or it could be a way to salvage an old shirt by removing the damaged parts and sewing on parts from a different shirt.
